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Chapter 13: Dark Realm

The air was dank and stale—heavy with each breath taken in. Everything was blanketed in darkness—yet there was enough light to see himself in this hapless void he was imprisoned in—

Beast Boy couldn't keep track of how much time had passed since he'd awoken to find himself in this void Slade had left him in. It seemed to continue on in the distance with no end—no exit, escape. He had no clue where the other two were being held either; they could be anywhere in the void—or even somewhere else entirely—

He'd been working on the bindings on his wrists for some time—twisting them to and fro to loosen them bit by bit. He could tell his efforts were paying off; he could feel that the bindings were much looser than they'd started off being—

Slade and his shadowy henchmen—or whatever they were—were nowhere to be seen, or heard, and it had been that way for quite some time. They probably figured he wasn't worth the while to keep extra close attention on—the other two were more capable of concocting escape plans; he is just the goofy comedy relief—

Just a little bit more, he told himself. You only have to twist it a little more—

Success; The bindings fell loosely from his wrists towards the darkened surface where he stood. He brought them up from behind his back where they'd been imprisoned for so long that they were stiff—examining them in the minimal yet adequate light, flexing them as he did so. They were a little sore—but still in good working order.

Now all I have to do is find a way outta here, he told himself. Find out were the other two are being kept up—and contact Raven or Robin to let them know what's going on.

Raven. He thought about what he'd said to her the last time they'd spoken. She had seriously been concerned—and he'd blown her off with a silly comment that left her walking away feeling somewhat insulted by him.

How could I have been so stupid? He yelled at himself internally. She'd been right all along—and I treated it like it all was a joke. Here I am, telling myself to grow up—

His communicator just happened to still be on him. He was happy that it was never apprehended while he was out of it—or even noticed that it was on him to begin with—

He just hoped that—wherever he was—that it would work, and he'd get a connection with one of his two teammates still out there—possibly still safe—

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

Homecoming couldn't be any sweeter—or sobering.

The tower stood alone on its island—darkened and sullen to the eye as Robin drove them nearer. The sky above a dismal slate gray—the air a near teeth-chattering chill. It was almost as if Mother Nature was playing this deck of cards intentionally—

"Home." Raven's voice had sounded so oddly sullen when that single word escaped from her mouth. Neither could tell if it was the atmosphere that created that sense in them, or if they themselves were feeling it on their own accord.

"Yeah," Robin replied just as simply—and just as heavily laced with a sullen sense to it. He couldn't wait to get there, yet at the same time—he wanted to get further away—

He parked it in the garage. She waited for him to steady the cycle before she even bothered to dismount. He gave her the cue—and she carefully got off from behind him.

"Almost like it was when we left—beside the fact that the electric's working again," Raven noted. "Do you know if they'll be here—or will Bee and her team still be out at wherever they've been staying?"

"She said they'd be here," Robin told her. "She intended to keep them camped up in the tower for the next couple days until we got back—just so that we wouldn't miss each other."

"We should just…head up then?" Raven asked him. He nodded.

"Pretty much." Not hesitating, Robin headed towards the elevator. Raven followed closely behind him.

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

The darkness had felt too eternal—too chilling—for a soul quite like hers—

Even for someone like her—

This was an evil she couldn't fight. Its concentration was too much; too much—

Starfire's morale had drained out of her long ago; she couldn't tell what length of time she'd been trapped there—left in the dark to be tortured—left alone to go mad—

She'd started out with a fighting spirit, having hope that she'd see light again outside of what she manifested—see her friends—all of them, again. She'd fought—lashing out with her greatest amount of strength and level of light that she could muster from her eyes and fists, but something had torn away at that ability to fight, what gave her the strength to use her powers to fight with in the first place.

Darkness loomed over—filled with despaired whispers. She couldn't help but wonder if lost souls still lingered out there—not able to find their way back to where they needed to be.

"Will I—become one of them?" she murmured aloud to herself. "Will I too become—a lost soul?"

She kept hearing the whispers—despaired, desperate—even violent—tongues lashing out cries and insults while the hosts remained invisible against the darkness. If she didn't know how tangible those voices were, she'd believe that she was losing sight of her sanity.

It as was as if the darkness itself knew all her fears—had access to every facet of her mind—only to use it against her. She wasn't sure if her two other imprisoned teammates were being put under the same kind of mental torture as she, but she knew it was really taking its toll on her.

Her deepest nightmares—ones buried so deep she didn't even fathom them until she witnessed them, there—firsthand—had left their scars on her. Damaged her enough where she was incapable of even using her powers as a defense mechanism.

Or even use any of them at all—

She just wanted so bad to escape this nightmare—and never have to think about it again. It was the only motivation she really had left—her only real salvation from madness for the time being.

It will come to an end, she told herself as confidently as she could even bother to muster internally.

Or so…I hope.

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

The elevator doors parted, revealing to Robin and Raven a surprise to be seen. The common room beyond the elevator's doors was clean, bright—and put together. What was once shattered was pieced together or replaced. What was torn or knocked down was once again in its rightful place.

In the middle of the revamped space stood Bumblebee, who was giving instruction to her team and tagalongs on some last minute details. She didn't notice the two had made their homecoming until she heard the gasps of shock coming from the direction of the elevator. She looked over to them then—with a big grin.

"So—you like?" Bumblebee asked the two of them. Both just nodded, a little too awestruck to speak immediately.

"It almost looks like it did before," Robin eventually managed to comment after a few moments.

"So—how was your journey to Gotham City?" Bumblebee inquired. She took note when the question struck a wrong cord from the change of the expressions on their faces in response.

"Not so good," Raven was the one to reply. "Someone Robin's particularly close to was critically injured while we were there—and it's hit him hard. We had a little luck finding some answers, but—it was mostly a disappointment in one way or another."

"Sorry to hear about that," Speedy spoke up from the kitchen. "That's gotta be a big letdown."

"Yeah—it was, but at least we managed to acquire some answers while we were there," Robin stated. He exhaustively went and collapsed onto the sectional.

"Where's Jinx?" Raven asked. Bumblebee shrugged.

"That girl just comes and goes as she pleases," Bumblebee remarked. "She didn't stick around inside to help us out more—and she spent more time reading outdoors then she did helping in here."

"I know where she is." It was Kid Flash that spoke up. "She's hanging around outside—on the grounds around the tower."

"Does she have my book with her still?" Raven asked him. He nodded.

"I can go get her—if you'd like," Kid Flash stated helpfully. Raven smiled.

"I'd appreciate it." While she waited for Jinx to show—Raven joined Robin on the sectional, just taking the moment to relax and breathe.

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

He could hear the derailing, despaired voices coming at him from all around him, but he chose to block them out. He didn't appreciate the influence they were trying to have on him—and he found ignoring them more to his liking than listening to them.

Beast Boy wasn't getting much of a break from the monotonous darkness shrouding him in from all angles; the further he travelled, the farther they stretched.

He couldn't find Cyborg or Starfire anywhere. He'd tried his communicator to get in contact with the two of them—while just receiving a crackling sound and a blank screen in response.

At first he was certain that if he couldn't get through to them—it was pretty hopeless to try reaching out to the other two. For some reason—the thought kept lingering in his mind to at least attempt to reach out to them—that it could work. After lingering for a while, it decided to become more demanding.

Try to contact Robin and Raven, that inner voice insisted in a demanding sort of way. What have you got to lose at trying it out?

I don't have anything to lose, he told that voice. I have only the possibility of gaining something.

He looked down at his communicator, a growing sense of determination building up within him.

He opened to device up, pressing the required buttons to get the right connection. To his great shock—he got a response.

"Hey, it's me—Beast Boy."

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

Jinx stepped into the common room from where the elevator was located; toting the book she'd taken from Raven's room under one arm. When Raven noticed her enter, she looked closely at the book she had with her—examining it as she approached.

That's not one of my books—

"Is that the book you took from my room when you were in there?" Raven asked as Jinx came up close. Jinx took the book from under her arm with her opposite hand, holding it up.

"Yeah—this is it," Jinx confirmed. "It just conveniently fell off the shelf for me while I was up there."

"Well—that's not one of mine," Raven stated. "I'm not sure how it got up there, but—I don't recognize it at all."

"That's unfortunate—because I wanted to ask you who handwrote the thing," Jinx replied. "Thought maybe you knew the author personally."

"Can I see that book?" Raven asked her. Jinx handed it over without hesitation. Raven took it from her, opening it and began to page through it quickly. "I'm not familiar with this handwriting in particular. Whoever wrote this—we've never met, I'm pretty sure of it. How'd you come across it again?"

"I heard a thud while I was looking through your library—and it just happened to be lying there," Jinx explained, shrugging. "I thought the thing fell off one of those shelves—or one of Bee's team was trying to play me for laughs. The thought that that thing just popped out of thin air didn't occur to me really."

"It's almost like someone wanted you to find this," Raven said. She started to read the book more thoroughly, at first finding the handwriting to be a little hard to read.

The material is similar to the info I got out of that library book—except this is in much greater detail—

"Apparently there's something called the shadow realm—kinda similar to another dimension—that these shadow people really exist in, like their own little world they exist in completely separate from our own," Jinx stated. "Their realm in a way overlaps ours, and yet, at the same time—is completely separate. What separates the two is nothing more than a thin veil really. It wouldn't take much for that little barrier to be removed—and have everything we know become obliterated by darkness."

"It never did," Raven said. She continued to read, with Jinx and Robin silently observing. While she was caught up in her literature, Robin was startled by the sound of his communicator going off.

Raven looked up from her reading, alarmed—exchanging glances with Robin, who shared the same expression.

"It's not me," Raven stated.

"It's not any of us," Bumblebee spoke up for her team—who were all currently present working on the finishing touches still. Perplexed, Robin didn't know what to make of it.

"Well—aren't you going to answer the thing?" Jinx asked him insistently. He hesitated a moment, and then nodded.

"Yeah." Robin reached for the device, and activated it. He almost jumped back in surprise when he noticed the one on the receiving end was Beast Boy.

"Hey—it's me, Beast Boy," he said from the other end. "It took you long enough to answer."

"BB?" Robin exclaimed, still flabbergasted. "W-where are you—what happened?"

"Well, long story short—Slade came in with these new henchmen without any warning—and brought us each separately to this big black void place. I was out cold when I was brought here—so I really don't know exactly where I am, or how I got here. I can't seem to locate the other two here either," Beast Boy replied. "They caught us each by surprise—while we were already separated. I don't know his whole motive behind this either—besides the fact that Slade wants to bargain us in exchange for Raven. I told him that wasn't gonna happen."

"Have you been harmed in any way?" Raven asked him. Beast Boy assuredly shook his head with a characteristic grin.

"Besides some twine wear to the wrists from them being bound—I'm no worse for wear," Beast Boy reassured them. "The other two though—I can't really say the same, since I really don't know."

"Were any other prisoners mentioned or present while you've been there?" Robin asked out of his own curiosity. Beast Boy took a moment to think.

"Slade did bring up some guy being tortured or something in front of me," Beast Boy replied. "Not sure who he was—but I do recall that."

"I see." Robin struggled to hold back his anger. Raven tried reassuring him, and Beast Boy took notice.

"Was there someone else you happen to know that got caught up in this—that was that guy?" Beast Boy asked him.

"Yes—somebody I know personally, that I had to rush off to the hospital because of what Slade did to him," Robin replied with a hint of anger.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Beast Boy replied sincerely.

"Do you know if there's a way to get to where you are from here?" Raven asked him. "A portal—anything?"

"There's nothing here," Beast Boy replied. "This place is just an empty void."

"That book states that there are tears in the fabric between the two worlds where somebody has been crossed over from this side over to there," Jinx spoke up. "Something about having someone travel from here to there weakens the barrier between the two—making these points access points or something for a person with the right abilities I guess."

"What kind of abilities?" Raven turned to Jinx.

"The power to travel through space quickly—teleporting, I think it is," Jinx replied.

"Where would the access points be then?" Robin asked.

"One would probably be Star's room," Raven stated.

"Or my room—where I was nabbed," Beast Boy added.

"Or where I discovered my mentor bloody and half conscious," Robin murmured mostly to himself. Raven overheard him, gazing at him sympathetically.

"Or possibly your room," Jinx said to Raven. "The book mentioned something about more shadowy activity at places where the barriers were temporarily broken—and that place has been one of the hotspots for the bizarre haunting activity. Actually—a lot of that same floor has been thought of as haunted since we got here."

"While you guys try to figure out a way to get here from there—I'll go see if I can find Star and Cy in this place," Beast Boy said from the other end of the communicator. "That is—if they're around here to be found, that is."

"Okay, BB," Robin told him. "That sounds good."

"Oh—before we disconnect—can you hand the communicator over to Rae for me?" Beast Boy asked. Robin nodded. He looked over to her.

"Beast Boy wants to talk to you," Robin told her. She looked at him particularly for a moment, and then took the communicator from him.

"What did you need?" Raven asked him.

"I just want to say—I'm sorry," Beast Boy said to her. "For being such a pain before all this happened. I was being a jerk, and I felt bad about it after the fact."

"Apology accepted," Raven replied.

"Well, I guess…I'll see you guys on the flipside then," Beast Boy said half jokingly. For once, Raven smiled in response.

"Yeah," Raven replied, picking up the irony in his statement, which she wasn't even sure he was aware of. "On the flipside." He grinned before the connection was dropped and the screen went blank. Raven looked up to Robin with a new sense of hope—and handed his communicator back to him.

He took it—with a hint of a smile.

(A.N.: I've got this story pretty much plotted out, and it's quite lengthy. It'll be more than the next few chapters before the conclusion, just in case anyone might be wondering. Hope y'all are enjoying, R&R and thanks for reading!)

~Mara